Ak Tenamit

Ak Tenamit is a project of a secular NGO, and is focused on the dual goals of self-sufficient progress for the Q'echi living in the Rio Dulce area, and environmental improvement. Our guide is Paco, a Spaniard who came to Ak Tenamit three years ago. He shows us around the lush, forested grounds, and it is hard to believe that when he arrived they were largely barren (though the smell of the vast quantities of compost that was hauled in to jump-start the process still lingers). Just outside their border, however, lies a freshly burned area of forest which until recently contained large trees, at least one over three-hundred years old, according to Paco.

Ak Tenamit is an interesting project because the Q'echi are not native to the area, but found refuge there during The Violence and before. Agricultural practices that were sustainable in more fertile upland soils did not translate well to Rio Dulce, and at Ak Tenamit they are trying to encourage practices more regionally appropriate.

The project helps the people with health care, education, organic farming, etc., but sees its role as transitional: it has already handed over most of the responsibility for the handicraft and health care projects, and hopes to turn the entire project over to the Q'echi soon. We discussed the ways that they are moving in this direction, and talked about how to tread the line between helping people to better their lives and imposing one's own cultural beliefs.

The riverbank is crawling with tiny crabs.
	Paco describes Ak Tenamit as we interact with the local flora.